Cleaning Mushrooms

[mogsob]

Tommy asked this question on the UK board (which, to be fair, related only to morels). But I was curious about mushroom cleaning techniques. Too much water seems to affect the mushroom's smell and texture and the mushroom brush takes off too much "skin". I know that some of my French friends don't wash their mushrooms at all.

Help!

[Jinmyo]

Never wash. Unless you're using vast quantities of button mushrooms to make a stock.

A soft bristled brush or damp paper towel.

Mushrooms contain vast amounts of water. One cooks this off to intensify the flavour, and perhaps to infuse them with other flavours (such as wine or dashi). To soak them in water defeats or at least hinders the whole process of cooking mushrooms.

edit:

mogsob=Mushrooms Of Great Size Or Bite

Edited March 24, 2003 by Jinmyo (log)

[Jon Tseng]

I have vague memories of an food-sciency article (harold mcgee, perhaps), trying to debunk the notion you should never wash mushrooms under running water (weighing before & after &tc &tc). can anyone remember this one?

J

[g.johnson]

I think it was Alton Brown. I always rinsemushrooms and can't see it making any difference. Maybe you have to saute for another minute to evaporate the water. So what?

Edit: Spelling.

Edited March 24, 2003 by g.johnson (log)

[Jinmyo]

So what?

Oh yeah?

[g.johnson]

Yeh. This guy makes the unarguable point that mushrooms thrive in damp climates. They're built to withstand water.

[Jinmyo]

Yeh. This guy makes the unarguable point that mushrooms thrive in damp climates. They're built to withstand water.

Oh yeah?

And to absorb water.

From your guy:

If, after washing mushroms in water you find they are too soggy for the use you intend for them, then them is dry out in the kitchen on a towel for a few hours.

Drawing it out is cooking. Putting it in is anti-cooking.

Brining them, as your guy suggests, is a good idea in that it would draw out excess moisture and infuse flavour.

edit:

I would point out your guy seems to be writing from Lithuania but that might be too trop so I won't.

Edited March 24, 2003 by Jinmyo (log)

[JAZ]

I have vague memories of an food-sciency article (harold mcgee, perhaps), trying to debunk the notion you should never wash mushrooms under running water (weighing before & after &tc &tc).  can anyone remember this one?

J

Harold McGee soaked mushrooms in water for fine minutes and found that 252 grams of mushrooms (23 mushrooms) absorbed 6 grams (less than half a tablespoon)of water, total. He points out that mushrooms are 90% water to begin with, and raises the point that a few more drops of water wouldn't seem to make much of a difference.

To clean button or crimini mushrooms, I put them in a plastic bag, fill the bag with water and shake them around a bit, then pour them out into a colander to drain. I wouldn't do this if I were serving them raw, because the outside texture changes, but I don't like raw mushrooms, so that's not an issue for me.

Edit: spelling

Edited March 24, 2003 by JAZ (log)

[g.johnson]

This requires an experiment. Do you think NSF funds this sort of thing?

[=Mark]

Popular science writer Robert L. Wolke also debunked the modern myth that washing mushrooms ruins them. They are after all 90% water to begin with, a brief splash under a faucet is not likely to affect them. The only possible scenario suggesting otherwise would be with mature mushrooms, especially portabellas whose gills would retain larger amounts of water.

[Varmint]

Popular science writer Robert L. Wolke also debunked the modern myth that washing mushrooms ruins them.  They are after all 90% water to begin with, a brief splash under a faucet is not likely to affect them.  The only possible scenario suggesting otherwise would be with mature mushrooms, especially portabellas whose gills would retain larger amounts of water.

And I generally scrape out the gills anyhow.

[Louisa Chu]

How to Wash Mushrooms 101

Place mushrooms in a sufficiently large bowl. Cover with cold water. Agitate. Lift - do not pour - out to second bowl. Cover with cold water. Agitate. Repeat three or four times until little/no sediment remains in bowls. Lift out to paper towels then dry as needed.

[Jinmyo]

And I generally scrape out the gills anyhow.

Right.

[kpurvis]

I second Loufood's method. On my one short experience at Le Cordon Bleu, that was the way the instructor did it. (Or should I say, that was the order the instructor barked at us.) My favorite comment on the mushroom-washing issue was from Lynne Rossetto Kasper, who once said that the whole nonsense about individually wiping mushrooms clean was just a conspiracy to make more work in the kitchen.

[torakris]

I never wash mushrooms, just to darn lazy and besides a little dirt never hurt anyone.

I usually just flick off large pieces of dirt with my thumb while slicing.

[elyse]

I always wash my mushrooms. I used to wipe them off, but what a pain! I thought I was the only one on earth until I saw Sara Moulton do it. And now you guys!

I DETEST crunching dirt when eating (or anytime). Ruins a couple of days for me.

[DRColby]

The only wild mushroom I wash is the cauliflower, which I soak in salted water to get the bugs out, rinsed, and then dry on some newspaper.

Most of our mushrooms are shaped like umbrellas, the tops get wet and the gills or pores stay dry. If you want a mess get bolitus pores or portobello gills wet. Would you rather eat chantrterelles from early in the season when they are dry or those that are 4-to-the-pound after two weeks of rain? Big difference.

The best way to clean wild mushrooms isto use a soft brush, sharp knife, and damp cloth. Use the brush on the whole mushroom, the damp cloth on the top and stem. On stems such as matsutakis scrap with the knife to get the dirt off. The knife also is used to pry out needles and dirt.

The knife also comes in handy to split open the morels (the orignal mushroom in question) and look for slugs and snails , found to also enjoy morels in may parts of the country. Of course a little extra protein never hurt anyone....

dave

[SFJoe]

Can't let a couple of bugs getcha down.

I think the proper procedure depends completely on the type of mushroom. Black chanterelles, for instance, I usually dump into a filled sink and rinse with gently running water. Dirty morels benefit from a quick plunge in water, but I don't like them to soak. Their little concavities can't really be cleaned with a brush. You can put either in a salad spinner after you wash them.

Button mushrooms, shiitakes, and so on I clean with a brush and sometimes a damp paper towel. Chanterelles sometimes require judicious water, but they can soak it up pretty fast, so I only apply it to some spots on some mushrooms. Hedgehogs (Dentinum repandum) are damn near impossible to clean well, so you pretty much have to pick them clean. If rain has spattered mud up onto their teeth on the underside of the cap, you will lose most of the mushroom cleaning it. They also absorb very large amounts of water if you soak them.

The water from very wet mushrooms need not be cooked down with the mushrooms themselves. Wet chanterelles, for instance, often dump a bunch of water after you begin to heat them. You can fish out the mushrooms at that point, reduce the liquid 90%, and add the chanterelles back to continue cooking. That way you don't boil them into mush, so to speak.

Edited March 25, 2003 by SFJoe (log)

[Jinmyo]

The water from very wet mushrooms need not be cooked down with the mushrooms themselves.  Wet chanterelles, for instance, often dump a bunch of water after you begin to heat them.  You can fish out the mushrooms at that point, reduce the liquid 90%, and add the chanterelles back to continue cooking.  That way you don't boil them into mush, so to speak.

That's a good point so I thought I'd highlight it.

[Elissa]

I usually just flick off large pieces of dirt with my thumb while slicing.

Never wash.

good enough for me.

somewhere i read to skin the really dirty ones so have too done that, but never use water.

Edited March 25, 2003 by lissome (log)

[torakris]

rereading the thread, I think the reason I don't wash is that I dn't have to, mushrooms in Japan are unbelievably clean. I have never seen a speck of dirt on shiitake, shimeji, enoki, eryngii, namatake, etc. even the creminis and portobellas here are spotless, only the white button mushrooms have dirt on the bottom of the stems and it gets cut off anyway.

[SFJoe]

Torakis,

All the mushrooms you cite are cultivated, so careful growers can supply them clean. If you are picking matsutake or porcini in the woods, you have a less controlled environment.

Best,

Joe

[Louisa Chu]

Re-reading the thread again as well I'd also like to amend that not only does it depend on the mushroom but the state of the mushrooms as well. The washing method - great for good, dry white mushrooms. And any others in a similar condition. But other mushrooms, especially wild mushrooms, do need a little knife work to clean out the bugs and slugs. And I'm sorry but I completely agree that few things irritate me more than sandy/dirty mushrooms. If you're going to mistreat Food of the Gods like that then why bother? Just use Green Giant canned.

[torakris]

Torakis,

All the mushrooms you cite are cultivated, so careful growers can supply them clean.  If you are picking matsutake or porcini in the woods, you have a less controlled environment.

Best,

Joe

Thanks, I guess if I had thought about it a little more I would have realized that!

For those of you who like to go out and pick your own mushrooms be careful! Follows is what happened to my cousin.

MUSHROOM PICKER BUSTED Mycena News, via The Sport Print, LA Myco. Soc., May 1998

In February 1998, Grover DeMarinis, son of Paul DeMarinis, a former member of the Mycological Society of San Francisco (MSSF), was picking chanterelles in an East Bay regional park. Hiding nearby in the bushes, a park ranger was staked out to bust mushroom pickers. The ranger busted young Mr. DeMarinis and gave him a ticket to the tune of $675. Thatfs no typo: $675.

Grover went before the Oakland municipal court three times. He was assigned a public defender. He still hadnft had a chance to enter his plea of not guilty. If convicted, he would have had a criminal record—a criminal mushroom picker.

Finally, on March 25, Grover got his say in court. "We showed up for court at 9 am last Wednesday," Paul DeMarinis wrote the MSSF Mycena News. "After sitting through an hour of other cases—in Oakland these were mostly substance abuse, parole violations, etc.—Grover was called up before the judge, who read his charges as epicking plants in the park.f A titter went over the motley audience of urban dope fiends and bail jumpers. When the exact charge emushroomsf was read, our unwilling audience roared with laughter. Even the judge couldnft keep a straight face. He dismissed the charges ein the interest of justicef and admonished Grover on the dangers of eating wild plants."

[elyse]

And I'm sorry but I completely agree that few things irritate me more than sandy/dirty mushrooms. If you're going to mistreat Food of the Gods like that then why bother? Just use Green Giant canned.

Thanks lou. But I imagine if you opened cans of Green Giant, you'd find not a grain of sand.(((((( )))))) That's a shudder emoticon.